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Home » Recipes » Dessert

The New York Times’ (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies

May 29, 2017 · by Katie Koteen · This post may contain affiliate links · 43 Comments · Modified: Aug 22, 2022

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Last week I set out to make a vegan adaptation of the New York Times' perfect chocolate chip cookie. Made with bittersweet chocolate and flake sea salt, it's the essential cookie. I was hot off a serious detox week and in need of something indulgent to completely negate my week of clean living. Mission accomplished.

chocolate chip cookies this recipe

My first go around was entirely experimental. I just added vegan substitutes on the fly… until the moisture and texture was about right. The hard part is you have to wait a full 24 hours before baking these beauties. And by the time I made it to the bake and confirmed I had it, I forgot. I FORGOT to write it all down. They were divine. My husband declared they were some of the best cookies he had ever had and insisted they must not be vegan. Insisted.

chocolate chip cookies

Now these won’t be the easiest cookies you’ve ever made. Mostly it’s the waiting and the wanting. I’m not exactly sure what happens to the dough as it chills for so long, but it’s entirely worth it. Don’t skip it.  Just know in 24 hours you’ll have a sublime chocolate chip cookie to enjoy with a little afternoon coffee.

Tips: Buy good (vegan) chocolate and salt. These are our favorites:

Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Baking Chunks
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

 

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The New York Times’ Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies, Made Vegan

4.6 from 8 reviews
  • Author: Well Vegan
  • Prep Time: 24 hours
  • Cook Time: 14 mins
  • Total Time: 24 hours 14 minutes
  • Yield: 24 1x
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Description

If you want to make smaller cookies, reduce the bake time by 2-3 minutes.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp. coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 pound bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks
  • flake sea salt

Instructions

  1. Combine dry flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
  2. In the large bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment in place, add the butter, coconut oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Cream on medium speed until it’s nice and fluffy. This might take 3+ minutes. Then add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
  3. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix in. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours.
  4. Remove dough from the refrigerator and let it soften a bit. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 F. Using a ice cream scoop, scoop about ⅓ cup of dough and form into a ball. Place on the parchment paper and flatten with your fingers or the back of a measuring cup. Sprinkle lightly with flake salt.
  5. Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your cookies. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @well_vegan on Instagram and hashtag it #wellvegan

 

More Vegan Dessert Recipes Recipes

  • Salted Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
  • Cinnamon Apple Crumble (Gluten-Free and Vegan)
  • Mini Vegan Pumpkin Pies with Frosted Cranberries
  • Apple Cider Cake with Maple Glaze (Vegan)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. CMW515

    December 23, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    Made this exactly as written and they are too crunchy and puffy. I’ve tried making it several times thinking it was a mistake on my part. This recipe calls for too much flour which causes it t be a puffy extra crunchy cookie.

    I don’t recommend this recipe.






  2. Sydney

    May 08, 2021 at 11:25 am

    I make this recipe for every special occasion ! Thank you for this magic.






  3. Jasmine

    December 13, 2020 at 3:26 am

    The best vegan cookies i’ve ever made! Will be using this recipe forever ❤️






  4. Katie Koteen

    November 14, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    Chewy is you bake them lightly, crispy if you let them go a little longer 🙂

  5. Rebecca

    November 07, 2019 at 9:25 pm

    Hey there, do these make chewy or light and crispy cookies?

  6. Nakia

    September 18, 2019 at 9:01 am

    The BEST cookies I have ever made! Thank you so so so much for this recipe! Waiting the whole 24 hours is crucial to get the most out of this recipe as hard as it may be. I don’t make very big cookies so for me this make a lot more than two dozen, but I’m not complaining. If you’re debating this recipe like I did after trying out so many and being disappointed, try this one! Tastes like a good ol’ fashioned chocolate chip cookie






  7. Stacey E.

    May 01, 2019 at 6:58 am

    These were great. I didn't refrigerate the dough before baking, so they made very flat, very large cookies. Doesn't matter to me. The addition of salt to the tops really makes a nice difference. Typical chocolate chip cookies are sort of annoyingly sweet and the salt on top does a good job of remedying that. My mom left behind one of those pepper grinder type things with chunks of salt in it, so that's what I used. I used homemade applesauce, so they have a very mild taste of apple, but that also works. I think the refrigeration insures that you don't end up with super huge cookies, because everything doesn't heat up to the point of flattening out.

  8. Linda Koire

    January 26, 2019 at 12:54 pm

    Thanks for the reply and clarification. Not being vegan myself, I wasn't sure what I was looking for (or not) on the label so I went with packaging clearly marked V. I will try the recipe with Scharffen Berger next time. I made it with Nestle vegan semi-sweet chips and they tasted fantastic. I should say the batter tasted a little funny after the 24 hr refrigeration process, but the baked cookies were fantastic. This recipe makes quite a bit so I made one dozen full-sized cookies and froze the rest of the batter and have used it three times since for easy, ready-to-go, freshly-baked cookies. I experimented and used a 1/2 TBSP rounded measuring spoon to make a bunch of quarter sized dainty cookies for entertaining and my guests loved it. You're right that the flattening process is important. The flaked sea salt really makes the recipe in terms of taste and presentation! THANKS! PS- my vegan friend raved and went back for seconds!






  9. Katie Koteen

    January 17, 2019 at 9:10 am

    Hey Linda! Hope the Nestle's worked out. I double checked the Scharffen Berger and it's still vegan. Here are the ingredients - CHOCOLATE; SUGAR; COCOA BUTTER*; NON-GMO SOY LECITHIN; WHOLE VANILLA BEANS. I'm not sure why they don't label it vegan, but probably because it's not a a certification process like Kosher or Gluten-free. There are loads of vegan products like that. Let us know how the cookies turn out! I'm sure they were great.

  10. LInda

    January 12, 2019 at 3:26 pm

    I went to buy the Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate chunks you recommend for this recipe but the bag was not marked Vegan. The product details (on the bag and online) clearly state gluten free and kosher, but not vegan. Are you sure this product is vegan and why wouldn't it be marked as such? I made the recipe with Nestle's "simply delicious" dark chocolate morsels since the packaging is marked Vegan, so I'll hope for the best and report back how that turned out. I preferred the idea of bittersweet chocolate paired with the sea salt and chunks instead of morsels, but hopefully this is good too...

  11. Katie Koteen

    October 10, 2018 at 8:57 am

    Varies a little based on how big you make them, but typically 2 dozen 🙂

  12. Jillian

    October 09, 2018 at 8:56 pm

    How many cookies does this recipe make?
    Thank you!

  13. Katie Koteen

    June 19, 2018 at 9:54 am

    Hey Cassia - For me, it improved the texture. But if you go all vegan butter, they will still work.

  14. Cassia

    June 16, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Not a fan of coconut oil; how does it enhance the cookie?

  15. Katie Koteen

    June 14, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    Hahhaha - No staunch vegan necessary. Your whole crew will love it!

  16. karen

    June 14, 2018 at 1:26 pm

    katya, i'm extremely impressed you converted this recipe. high fives!! i must try it and look forward to hosting a staunch vegan soon so i can try it out! 🙂

  17. Katie Koteen

    May 25, 2018 at 10:39 am

    Highly recommended 🙂 You got this.

  18. christiane

    May 25, 2018 at 12:11 am

    Hi,
    I don’t think I can wait 24hours. Do I really need to do this step!

  19. Katie Koteen

    May 21, 2018 at 9:10 am

    SO glad you liked them! I just made them again last week and they never disappoint!

  20. Patricia Cotter

    May 20, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    These turned out fantastic!






  21. Katie Koteen

    May 09, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @Allegra - You're in uncharted territory 🙂 PLEASE let us know how it goes - a gluten-free option would be amazing!!!

  22. Allegra Edelnant

    May 09, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    Have you tried making them gluten free? If I just use an all purpose gf flour it should work, right?

  23. Katie Koteen

    April 09, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    That's probably it. Shortenings are usually primarily palm oils with just a little coconut oil added. I think that would be the culprit before the pressing 🙂

  24. Cheryl

    April 06, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    Balled these today and patiently waited thec 24 hours. I found them a little thick and dry. I wonder if I didn't press them enough. I also used coconut oil in shortening form, melting it to oil. I wonder if that's the problem?

  25. Katie Koteen

    March 16, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    The longer the better, but I’m sure 15 hours is good!

  26. Sharon

    March 16, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    Do I have to chill 24 hours , is 15 hours ok?

  27. Katie Koteen

    March 15, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    Ohh I'm not sure! From most accounts, sounds like Nina's is good for baking, but we haven't tried it. Good luck and report back!

  28. Ophelia

    March 15, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    Can you use “Nina’s vegan butter” in place of store bought vegan butter?

  29. Katie Koteen

    March 13, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    If you have those on-hand, absolutely use them! It works either way, but the texture is slightly better when you have the mix of flours.

  30. Madeline

    March 13, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    Is there a reason why not to use the bread flour and cake flour called for in the original recipe? I have those ingredients from making the cookies the original way and want to try your recipe for visiting vegan friends. Did you just use what you had on hand or is it important to your version to switch to regular flour? Thanks!

  31. Katie Koteen

    January 31, 2018 at 9:44 am

    So good to know! I wondered what the chill was all about. It definitely makes a difference!

  32. Liliane

    January 30, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    I just made them today! They are very good. The chilling period is very important: it lets the sugars all mend together, creating a more toffee-like taste. It also helps maintain the shape!

    Thanks for sharing!

  33. Katie Koteen

    November 05, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Love your adaptation! I can't wait to try it 🙂 So good to know it works with different flour combinations.

  34. Diana

    November 05, 2017 at 1:41 pm

    Oh my lord! I used 1/2 flour and a mix of almond arrowroot garbanzo bean flour as I’m removing wheat slowly from the children’s diet, and its amazing! Thank you my son added it to our family cook book.






  35. Katie Koteen

    October 27, 2017 at 8:09 am

    Yes, I'm sure they'll be fine. But the texture might be different from the original. If you give it a try, report back and let us know how it turns out!

  36. Yesenia

    October 26, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    One questions, would they atill be GOOD if i used all coconut oil instead of vegan butter?

  37. Elle

    October 12, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    These were amazing!!! Mind if I share them on my blog? Definitely saving this recipe!!






  38. Katie Koteen

    August 10, 2017 at 8:50 am

    Hi Lalo - Yes, a hand mixer will work as well! For the coconut oil, I just used Trader Joes's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil — cold pressed, unrefined. Hope that helps!

  39. Katie Koteen

    August 10, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Hi PL! I'm so glad the recipes worked out so well for you! I agree - I have no idea what happens when the dough chills, but it improves the flavor and texture tremendously. I even freeze half the dough and when I defrost it later, they still come out beautifully. In regards to weight, I definitely should have done them both ways, but was afraid most home bakers wouldn't have a scale to measure out the ingredients. If I have a some time next week I'll add the weights in! Great suggestions 🙂

  40. PL

    August 09, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    I had to write back to say these are awesome. Thank you! I'm new to vegan baking and am amazed how much difference a day makes in this version, as does flattening the ball of dough before baking. The ones I baked immediately had a weird gingerbread sort of flavor, not sure why? But a day later they tasted much more like the original recipe. I notice you don't give measurements by wieght. Is that less important in vegan baking?

  41. Lalo

    August 08, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    This looks so yummy! 2 questions: 1) I have a hand held mixer not a standing one. Will that work as well? 2) Unrefined or refined cooking oil? Thanks so much.

  42. Katie Koteen

    August 07, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Love that suggestion! Hope you enjoy the cookies 🙂

  43. PL

    August 07, 2017 at 7:54 am

    Can't wait to try this, I love the regular recipe and was sad to miss it now that my son is dairy -free.
    I'm not sure I've noticed a difference by waiting that long. Although some waiting was necessary for the dough to firm up before baking
    It's easier to form balls, freeze them and just take out a few at a time as needed.

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